sabotage
Americannoun
-
any underhand interference with production, work, etc., in a plant, factory, etc., as by enemy agents during wartime or by employees during a trade dispute.
-
any undermining of a cause.
verb (used with object)
-
sabotages,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sabotaged,
past participle, past
-
sabotaging
present participle
noun
-
the deliberate destruction, disruption, or damage of equipment, a public service, etc, as by enemy agents, dissatisfied employees, etc
-
any similar action or behaviour
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sabotagesimple
-
sabotagessimple
-
have sabotagedperfect
-
has sabotagedperfect
-
am sabotagingprogressive
-
are sabotagingprogressive
-
is sabotagingprogressive
-
have been sabotagingperfect progressive
-
has been sabotagingperfect progressive
Past
-
sabotagedsimple
-
had sabotagedperfect
-
was sabotagingprogressive
-
were sabotagingprogressive
-
had been sabotagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sabotage
First recorded in 1865–70; from French, from sabot(er) “to botch,” originally, “to harry, shake up, strike” (verb derivative of sabot sabot ) + -age -age
Explanation
Sabotage isn't very nice: It's when you ruin or disrupt something by messing up a part of it on purpose. Loosening the blades on your competitor's ice skates would definitely be considered sabotage. Sabotage comes from the French word saboter, which literally means “walk noisily.” That's funny, because the last thing you'd want to do when committing an act of sabotage is stomp around and get caught. It’s believed that sabotage came into use in 1910 as a noun, and then later in 1918 as a verb. Apparently, people only became so cruel in the last century or so.
Vocabulary lists containing sabotage
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They are not doing high-profile sabotage of corporations; they are not shooting it out in the coal mines.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
Iran began work at Pickaxe Mountain after the sabotage at an Iranian centrifuge assembly facility in 2020.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Several acts of suspected sabotage have been reported in Germany in the past 24 hours alone, including two attacks on electricity substations, one in the east and one in the west near Cologne.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
"Anyone who tries to sabotage our critical infrastructure and paralyse society is attacking all of us. But we will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed or intimidated by criminal activity."
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
The Gestapo, summoned to inspect the damage, concluded that it was sabotage.
From "Night" by Elie Wiesel
Ms. Moyer-Nocchi repeatedly, bewilderingly sabotages her considerable achievements by not bothering to get small but significant particulars right.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
Clodio wears a dress — because he insists, “Revenge is best in a dress” — and giddily kicks his feet in manic joy as he sabotages things.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2024
It seems to mean well, even as it sabotages investor performance.
From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2024
That, said Peña, would be a violation of sovereignty and, as such, a condition that sabotages potential progress.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 6, 2023
"Then the Earthman—I mean the Earthman who sabotages the rockets—has to be a part of the technical staff," Rick said.
From The Scarlet Lake Mystery by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin
Africa's largest oil producer has increased production in recent years in part by cracking down on theft while also hiring former militants who sabotaged pipelines to act as security.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
German investigators trying to establish who sabotaged Nord Stream discovered the Andromeda in dry dock on the island of Rügen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Grantham’s latest bearish case is that U.S. stocks could be sabotaged this year by an overheated IPO market.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 17, 2026
A Ukrainian national has been arrested by police in Poland as part of the investigation into the 2022 explosions that sabotaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea, his lawyer has said.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2025
Instead they thoroughly sabotaged themselves and their cause.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Barrot said the attacks targeted government ministries, companies, and service operators, with the aim "either of capturing information or sabotaging operations, for example rail infrastructure, as was the case in Poland".
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
This week I am looking at the big picture, sharing words of caution to avoid sabotaging future prospects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
But McLaughlin did not merely alienate the judiciary; she consistently undermined the administration’s legal arguments, sabotaging lawyers’ efforts to cover up unlawful conduct by boasting about it on social media.
From Slate ● Feb. 18, 2026
In pursuit of perfection, Kelly, who faces Bakhram Murtazaliev for the IBF light-middleweight world title in Newcastle on Saturday, was sabotaging his chances of success.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2026
They hadn’t openly acknowledged the situation—that Minya was sabotaging Sarai’s lull—but it was in every look they shared.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
